Leaning against the tall oak tree with Leah by my side, I sighed, thinking of the perfect night that is coming to an end soon. It was a great night of firsts, I was on my first date, with my first girlfriend, and as lame as it is to admit for a seventeen year old, I had my first kiss. This moment was magical, but wanting it to progress to a slightly different activity. I spoke up; “I’ll be right back, I just have to get something from the car." A couple moments later I returned with a large unzipped sleeping bag. Leah looked at me questioningly as I began to spread the material on the ground. “I thought we could star gaze," I reply to her look, “I know how you love the stars.", her face immediately lit up, revealing her angelic smile. “That sounds wonderful.”, she replied with glee. We lay down, with her on my left side and my arm draped around her. “You know, this night is beautiful," I said. She agreed, and I continued with probably one of the most cliché and corny lines ever: “this night may be beautiful but it is nothing compared to you." “Awww thanks," she replied with a blush. Suddenly, a cool breeze washed over us, causing her to press her body into my side as much as she could. I chuckled at this, pulled her closer, and kissed her. We lay together in silence for a couple minutes, so I decided to speak up and tell her “God, I could never get tired of this." “Mmhmm," she sleepily replied with her head now on my chest. “Wow, she looks so peaceful," I think, “I’m with my girlfriend and I haven’t felt this calm in ages. I could get used to this." My eyes started to get heavy as I think “I’ll just close my eyes for a couple minutes and then I’ll… I’ll take her…back…”

Waking up, images and thoughts flooded my mind, “It’s still night out, Leah is by my side looking as beautiful and peaceful as ever, and it’s…3AM!!”. “Oh god, her parents are going to kill me," I think as I stare at the screen of my phone, not wanting to believe the time and the 47 missed calls. “This is bad, very very bad!” I think as I freak out and die on the inside. I’ll probably be found dead in a random sewer in Mexico."I swiftly but quietly get up and lift her bridal style, carrying her, still asleep to the car. I quickly run back to the area Leah and I were just at, pick up everything I brought, and throw it in the car. I frantically drive to her house, luckily not causing an accident or stopped for speeding. Once we got to her house, I found her keys and carried her bridal style inside. As I walked through the doorway with her, I see her parents, who look pissed. I quickly motioned to them that Leah was asleep and that I was going to take her upstairs. I get up to her room, place her on her bed and begin to walk away. As I'm about to pull the door to her room open, I hear a noise originating from Leah's bed. I turn around and see her beginning to stir, so I walk back to her, sit down next to her, give her a light kiss, and lightly stroke her hair to her face, and whisper in her ear the hashkivenu, the Jewish prayer for a safe night rest. This gets her to fall back asleep. I getup, walk out of her room and close the door, but keep it slightly open to not make a sound. I walk down the stairs while practicing a technique for calming down, while I berate myself, "How could I not set an alarm? Why didn't we wake up when her parent called? I felt myself get tired , why didn't I just get up then?". I finally reach the bottom of the stairs, and turn the corner ready to face the onslaught of questions from her parents. Which is what I immediately got when they saw me, "What were you doing? Why were you late", they ask along with other questions that I didn't bother to follow. I finally interrupt them and say, "we went out for dinner, saw a movie, and went star gazing. I continues on to say, " the reason we are late is we both fell asleep next to each other on a sleeping bag I brought, so we could lay down while stargazing". Her parents stared at me silently for several moments, then. He finally spoke up, "Well, I would normally make you squirm, but it's late, you seem like a nice young man, and I don't believe you are lying". "We need sleep and I'm sure you do to. We can deal with this later when you come to pick Leah up again". As I leave, I thank her parents for being so forgiving. I get in my car, and drive to my hotel, thinking of the crazy 9 hours that I had just lived through.